Bios: Sideways

"Efficiency through self-sufficiency."

Sideways is a conscientious, ninja-like warrior who races to battle. Disguised as a sports bike he exceeds speeds of 250mph. Mysterious and silent, he reveals little about himself except a fierce drive to confront the enemy and quickly return to Cybertron. On Earth, he undergoes a personality change that gives him both a good and a bad side based on Mini-con influence. This split makes him highly unpredictable. It's hard to predict which half of his split personality will win in the end - the good side or the evil side!

Strength: 4 Intelligence: 6 Speed: 6 Endurance: 5

Rank: 6 Courage: 6 Fireblast: 6 Skill: 8

Bios: Gunbarrel

"Death from Above."

Air superiority is the key in any military victory. Whether it is taking out targets on the ground, air, or sea the Air Military Mini-Con Team are the boys for the job. Their quick response time and ability to move troops and munitions to an intended destination make them a vital link in the chain of any military operation. They are known for the lightning speed of their assaults, injecting fear into the hearts of their enemies and leaving the battlefield strewn with glowing metal wreckage.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 6

Rank: 6 Courage: 8 Firepower: 9 Skill: 7

Bios: Wheeljack

Wheeljack is an exotic sports car with faast lines and a fast attitude. Once a prominent Autobot member, Wheeljack has had a vibrant and rocky past; ow he's a stalwart Decepticon. Left behind on a battlefield to die, Wheeljack has not forgotten his good friend Hot Shot who left him there. Now he wears his scars as a badge of honor; a huge gash tears through the heart of his old Autobot logo, a blemish he keeps to demonstrate and remind those around him how he feels about the so-called noble Autobots. One day he will settle the ancient score; with Hot Shot's ruination his revenge will be complete. In Robot mode Wheeljack skillfully wields two energy batons.

Bios: Clench

Clench is the Mini-Con partner for Galvatron, the reformatted and powered-up version of Megatron. After Megatron was reformatted, he decided to 'trade-up' his Mini-Con partner. Searching the globe over, Galvatron finally found the perfect Mini-Con partner in Clench, Leader-1's brother. Although Leader-1 and Clench share nearly identical transformations, Clench is ten times faster, stronger, and more powerful than Leader-1.

Bios: Jetfire

"You can fall alone or you can fall together!"

Jetfire adopted the form of Earth's most advanced and adventurous craft - the Space Shuttle. He is Optimus Prime's executive officer, second in command and has the honorable and rare task of being able to combine with him - redefining the term teamwork. He exemplifies all of the special qualities found in Autobot commanders: courageous, tactically skilled, and a natural leader. Taking the time to know each Autobot, Jetfire understands their individual strengths and weaknesses - in battle, he knows exactly where each soldier will excel. While relaxed with the troops, he becomes all business when it's time for action. He is heroic in battle, caring not about size or number of enemies; with a take on all comers' mentality. Equally efficient and effective on the ground and in the air, he is air mobile and ground capable.

Seeing R.E.D Over MEGA SCF

The new Transformers R.E.D figures appearing on store shelves have been drawing a lot of comparisons to Action Masters due to the non-transforming nature of the figures. That's a fair comparison, but Action Masters aren't the only non-transforming Transformers toys (or even the first). I'd compare those more to the ReAction figures by Super7. While an Action Master has a little more articulation, they look similar. 

My mind instantly goes to MEGA SCF when looking at R.E.D figures. They're pretty similar in sculpting and honestly the R.E.D figures seem like an evolution of them more than anything. 

Super Collection Figure (SCF) was a blind box figurine line by Takara in the early 2000's that I was a very big fan of. Great little figurines that were perfect little representations of G1 Transformers based on their cartoon appearance. The line went from the early years to Victory before ending with Legends of the Microns (Armada). 

Hasbro brought the line to America as Heroes of Cybertron and was generally sold in smaller stores. I was in heaven with these figures and was pretty sad when it ended. They were very fun to buy and collect. I still  remember gathering around a table with a few others SCF fans at BotCon 2002 and talking about the different chase figures for what felt like hours. Shortly before the con, a local comic shop had a box of the Masterforce series and I bought the entire thing one Sunday morning. Having that Black Zarak build figure was something I was very proud of at the time.

As the line progressed the MEGA versions came out and they were a pretty big step up. Larger and featuring a good bit of articulation with extra parts for all sorts of scene recreations. Like regular SCF they ranged from various points in G1 and Armada. 

Some people make the comparisons to Revoltech when talking about the R.E.D figures. Those are nice, don't get me wrong, but their sculpting was very different. These look more in line with the sculpting style of R.E.D. Which admittedly is part of the draw to R.E.D for me. They seem like a continuation of a former line I liked a lot.

I'll just have to buy them too. 

Darn.